Rotary manicuring instrument



May 20, 1952 M. Kl-:ssLER 2,597,526

ROTARY MANICURING INSTRUMENT Filed Aug. 2l, 1948 FJ; Ei 4 INVENTo Werf/WMms/@r R Patented May 20, 1952 ROTARY MANICURING INSTRUMENT MerrillKessler, Oakland, Calif.,

assignor to Aristocrat Manicuring Company, a corporation of NevadaApplication August 21, 1948, Serial No. 45,472

2 Claims. 1

The invention relates to rotary manicuring instruments adapted for powerdriven operation, as for example at the end of a flexible drive arrangedfor manual engagement and manipulation by the manicurist.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary power drivenmanicuring instrument of the character described, which is designed forling of the edge portions of a finger nail to be manicured and whichwill afford a rapid and precise trimming of the nail with completesafety to the operator and to the person whose nails are beingmanicured.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rotary manicuring le ofthe character above which is designed as a companion instrument for usewith a power driven manicuring device disclosed in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 33,077, filed June 15, 1948, and when so usedwill afford a faster, smoother and better-appearing manicuring of afinger nail.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. Itis to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of 'theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rotary manicuring le constructed inaccordance with the present invention, shown operatively attached to oneend of a flexible drive.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the instrument and drive connectionillustrated in Figure 1, and shown on a somewhat enlarged scale and witha portion in cross section.

IFigure 3 is a still further enlarged cross-sectional view of part ofthe rotary file.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the part of the le illustrated inFigure 3 with a portion in cross section, as indicated by the plane ofthe line 4--4 of Figure 3.

The manicuring device of the present invention consists of a handlemember E formed at one end 'I for detachable connection to an end 8 of aexible drive 9 having an internal torsional drive element II terminatingin a shaft part I2 journalled for rotation within the end 8 and havingat its extremity a flattened drive tongue I3. Journalled for rotationAwithin the member 6, and mounted substantially axially therethrough,

is a shaft Ill retained against longitudinal displacement forwardly ofthe handle by the engagement of annular shoulders I6 and l 'I on theshaft I4 and within the internal bearing bore of the handle portion 6respectively.

Preferably, the end 1 of the hand piece 6 is reduced in diameter andthreaded externally for engagement with a threaded interior wall I8provided at the end 8 of the flexible drive concentric to and spacedfrom the drive tongue I3. The drive connection is effected by theprovision in one end I9 of the shaft part I4 of a cross slot 2I openingto an end of the shaft for receiving the tongue I3 and joining thetongue and shaft for joint rotation upon threading of the end 1 of thehand piece into the attachment 8. Preferably, the outer diameters of thehand piece 6 and attachment 8 of the flexible drive are the same, so asto provide a flush continuous external surface when these members arejoined together for engagement in the hand of the operator. A1f desiredand as here shown, portions of the adjoining periphery of the hand piece6 and attachment 8 may be knurled to facilitate handling.

The opposite end 22 of the shaft I4 is extended to the adjacent end 23of the hand piece 6 and is formed with an internally threaded bore 24for receipt of a threaded end 26 of an axially extended stem 21 of themanicuring instrument 28, so as to join the stem end 26 and shaft end 22for joint rotation.

The instrument 28 is formed as an enlarged disc-shaped head at theforward extremity of the stem 21, and, as will be seen from Figures 1and 2, the stem tapers forwardly to the head 28 from a shoulder 29formed in the forward end of the threaded stem end 26, which is reducedin diameter as illustrated in Figure 2. The hand piece is alsopreferably tapered forwardly to the end 23 so as to provide thereat adiameter equal to the diameter of the shoulder 29, whereby a continuoustapered surface is provided from the hand piece to the neck 3| at therear side 32 of the head 28. Preferably the threaded end 2E of the stemis threaded rather tightly in the bore 24 of the shaft I 4 so that themanicuring instrument and its hand piece 6 will normally stay inassociated relation. Connection and disconnection of the instrument tothe flexible drive is accomplished by means of the threaded connectionof the end 1 of the hand piece to the end pieces 8 and axially from therear face 32 of the head. The rear face 32, as well as the front face33, is substantially planar and circular as viewed in elevation, seeFigures 1 and 4, with the planes of these sides substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of rotation of the member. Formed in the outerperiphery of the head is an annular recess 34 having a substantiallyflat cylindrical base 36 concentric to the axis of the head andpositioned inwardly from the outer extremities of the sides 32 and 33.File serrations 31 are formed in the base 36, and preferably and ashere'shownfthese serrations are cut directly into the base so as toprovide le teeth extending in an axialI direction and arranged in spacedrelation around the entire circumference of the base. As will be bestseen from Figures 3 and 4, the outer extremity of these teeth is locatedat the bottom of the recess and within the outer periphery of the head.

The opposite sides of the recess 34 are formed by annular walls 38 and39 which extend from the front and real` edges of the base 36 in anoutward divergent fashion to the outer extremities of the opposite sides32 and 33 of the head, so as to define thereat thin annular rims 4| and42.` Of considerable importance is the fact that the tapered sides 38and 39 of the recess are left perfectly smooth, and thus function toproperly guide the edge of a nail to be manicured into position upon thefile serrations 31 at the base.

lThe width of the base 36 of the recess is slightly `greater than thenormal thickness of a finger nail to be filed to thereby confine thenail on the' serrations without appreciable movement of the nail acrosssuch width, and the outward divergenceof the recess increases this widthconsiderably across' the rims M and 42 so as to readily permit theinsertion of the edge of the nail to be manicured into the recess, withthe rims Il! and 42' straddling the nail. In placing the periphery ofthe head against the edge of the nail to be'manicured, the nail edgewill normally engage one end of the tapered recess walls 38 and 39 andthereby guide the movement of the head into proper engagement with theedge of the nail, that is, with the nail edge squarely positionedagainst the serrated recess base 36. Also, the location of the fileserrations at the base of the recess, surrounded entirely by smoothpolished walls, positively prevents the le serrations from contactingany part of the finger or the finger nail with: the exception of theedge of kthe nail to beV trimmed. Thus the instrument, even though powerdriven at a relatively high rate of speed, is completely and absolutelysafe in use to both the operator and the person receiving the manicure.As above noted, thetaper of walls 38 and 39 reduces the thickness of therims 4I and 42, and preferably thetthickness of these rims is reducedsufficiently to admit the rim to the underside of the nail,particularlybetween the nail andits bed at the edge of the nail. In order to removethe sharpness of these rims by reason of theirfthinness, I prefer toprovide the rims with a rounded, bead-like form, as illustrated inFigure 3.

As lhereinabove noted, the manicuring instrument of the presentinvention is designed as a companion instrumentv to the one disclosedand claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 33,077. In thatapplication, there is shown a rotary emery disc which is preferably usedat the beginning of the manicuring operation to shape the nail into thegeneral form desired. The emery disc may leave a slight burr along theedge of the nail, and the instrument of the present invention is ideallysuited to remove this burr and provide a very nely-cut and finished edgesurface for the nail. If desired, the present instrument may be usedalone for manicuring the nail, or-with other types of instrument forshaping the nail. Preferably, the flle teeth 31 are relatively ne intheir construction so as to provide the highly-nished edge desired.

To obtain best lresults from the tool, the head should be driven at asubstantially constant speed of rotation and ,desirably the flexibledrive shaft is connected to an electric motor having such a constantspeed of rotation within the range of 500 to -2,000 R. P. M. Preferably,several speeds within this range should be available. to enable theoperator to select the best speed for trimming and finishing the variousfinger nails encountered. The diameter of the head corresponding withthe indicated speed range is approximately onefourth to one-half of aninch.

I claim:

l. A rotary manicuring file comprising, a disc shaped body havingsubstantially flat front and rear sides parallel to each other andperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body, a stern extendingaxially from said rear side and adapted for connection to a rotarydrive, said body being formed with a peripheral recess having a flatcylindrical base and a pair of smooth outwardly diverging side wallsextending from the front and rear edges of said base, the outerextremities of said side walls joining said front and rear sides of saidmember in smooth thin annular rims, and file serrations formed in saidbase, the width of said base between said front and rear edgesfunctioning to confine a fingernail on said serrations withoutappreciable movement of said nail across said width.

2. A rotary manicuring le comprising, a disc shaped body havingsubstantially at front and rear sides parallel to each other andperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body, a stem extendingaxially from said rear side and adapted for connection to a rotarydrive, said body being formed -with a peripheral recess having a flatcylindrical base and a pair of smooth outwardly diverging side wallsextending from the front and rear edges of Said base, the outerextremities of said side walls joining said front and rear sides of saidmember in smooth thin annular rims, and a plurality ofcircumferentially-spaced axially extending le serrations formed in saidbase, the width of said base between said front and rear edgesfunctioning to confine a fingernail on said serrations Withoutappreciable movement of said nail across said width.

MERRILL KESSLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 938,227 Durkee I Oct. 26, 19091,332,004 Rawleigh Feb. 24, 1920 2,117,053 Bickley May 10, 1938 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 11,623 Great Britain of 1910

